Compiled: Vernacular Blockchain
Ethereum holders are no strangers to extreme market volatility. But this round cycle? It feels like a rollercoaster that keeps going down.
While Bitcoin hits new highs, Ethereum is nearly stagnant, even bleeding continuously. No new compelling narratives. No explosive growth. Just a slow erosion of market dominance, while faster, cheaper competitors like Solana steal the spotlight. Now, Vitalik Buterin has proposed a radical new proposal that could change the way Ethereum operates forever. But is it already too late?
Vitalik's new bet: replacing the EVM
At the core of Ethereum is the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)—the decentralized engine that drives smart contracts on the network. It has been a cornerstone since Ethereum's inception. But now, Vitalik suggests a complete overhaul.
In a post on the Ethereum Magicians forum (a gathering of Ethereum developers), Vitalik proposed the idea of replacing the EVM with a new architecture called RSIV.
In simple terms:
Existing contracts maintain their functionality.
New contracts can be written in Rust (a modern, highly popular programming language) as well as Solidity.
Interoperability will be maintained between the old system and the new system.
Goal? Significantly improve Ethereum's execution efficiency and address one of its biggest scalability bottlenecks.
Vitalik even hinted that this might be the only viable path to simplify Ethereum's bloated execution layer—especially after abandoning earlier sharding commitments.
In theory, this sounds transformative.
In reality? RSIV may take years to come to fruition.
That is the real issue.
Ethereum stagnates, SOL rises.
While Ethereum discusses its next major upgrade, competitors are not standing still.
Especially SOL, which is far ahead:
In the past three months, it has processed 4.9 billion transactions, far surpassing Ethereum.
Weekly network revenues reached $21 billion, capturing nearly 48% of market share.
SOL's decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume now leads all chains.
Meanwhile, Ethereum's data is not optimistic:
The ETH/BTC ratio has hit an all-time low.
ETH ETFs continue to lose assets, while Bitcoin ETFs attract billions.
Ethereum's market dominance has fallen to 7%, about 66% lower than historical levels.
Price performance? Over the past year, Bitcoin has risen nearly 50%, while Ethereum has dropped 50%.
Wall Street's choice is clear. The hottest capital in the crypto market is no longer flowing to Ethereum, but rather to Bitcoin and faster Layer 1 chains like SOL.
Even big players like Galaxy Digital are reshaping their strategies: on-chain data shows they have swapped $100 million worth of ETH for SOL.
The harsh truth: Ethereum is losing its edge.
The current state of Ethereum sounds eerily similar to once tech giant Nokia.
Just like Nokia in the smartphone wars, Ethereum built an outstanding platform that changed the world… but struggled to adapt quickly when newer, faster competitors emerged.
The harsh reality is: Ethereum has lost its narrative in this cycle.
In 2017, Ethereum was synonymous with ICOs.
In 2020, it was the king of NFTs and DeFi.
In 2024, the biggest trend in the crypto market is memecoins—and this is almost entirely happening on SOL.
Ethereum lacks a compelling use case to drive mass new user adoption. Instead, it has fragmented into expensive Layer 2s, clunky cross-chain bridges, and user experience friction.
Is RSIV a game changer, or is it too late?
Vitalik's RSIV proposal is ambitious. Bold and fearless. It's the significant thinking Ethereum needs.
But the crypto world changes at light speed. The reality is that even if RSIV is flawless, building, testing, and deploying it may take years.
By then, SOL, Sui, Aptos, and others may have taken the lead.
Ethereum is not beyond saving—at least not yet. It still has about $50 billion in total locked value (TVL), continues to attract loyal whale capital, and retains institutional respect.
But it stands at a crossroads:
Continue slow, cautious upgrades—possibly fading gradually into history.
Or act quickly, innovate boldly, and strive to regain leadership in a rapidly changing market.
RSIV could be the beginning of a revival.
It could also become the first nail in the coffin if Ethereum acts too late.
